


salt and the sea (i'll be your friend in the daylight again)

by shesthesmoke



Series: spend my life as a loaded gun [2]
Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Alex is trying, Gen, alex is gonna make sure of it, alex's fatal flaw comes in handy, do i smell a redemption arc brewing, eventually, flint being a combative little shit, flint is on his way to trying, flint's only coping mechanism is yelling, flint's still in the hospital, for plot reasons tho, hes not like dying, obviously, they're gonna be okay, this has become the only dynamic i care about
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:35:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24955411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shesthesmoke/pseuds/shesthesmoke
Summary: the second time flint wakes up, he wakes up to alextitle from salt and the sea by the lumineers
Relationships: Alex Manes & Flint Manes
Series: spend my life as a loaded gun [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1806151
Comments: 10
Kudos: 47





	salt and the sea (i'll be your friend in the daylight again)

The second time Flint wakes up, he wakes up to Alex. He tries to ignore the feeling that bubbles up in his chest, because he's pretty sure it's fear. He’s incredibly vulnerable right now. And yet, Alex is on the other side of the room, just looking at him. Still too soft to do what needs to be done. 

“What happened to Dad?” Flint asks, because he needs to know even if he doesn’t necessarily want to. 

Or maybe he’s not too soft, maybe it was Alex. All those years, and he finally did something about it. Something he had no fucking right to do. The thing in Flint’s chest curdles. 

“I came before Greg because I knew you’d ask.” 

Being angry is usually so easy. Too easy. Flint could do it forever. Even when it’s not useful for the situation at hand, it still gives him somewhere to hide. Right now, he’s in a hospital bed and has nowhere. Even his anger has failed him.

“Keep talking,” he barks, even though he barely has the energy. He’s so tired. But if he lets Alex see that, he’s gonna be fucked. It might be his brother on the other side, but this is a war. 

Alex sighs. “He was trying to protect me.”

The anger is back. “So you just stood back and let him kill our father? How could you? He’s fucking using you, Alex! All he wants is to destroy our family! How are you still to stupid to see that, after everything?”

Alex exhales, seemingly unbothered, and if Flint’s blood was capable of boiling more than it already was, or if every single part of his body didn’t feel like lead, they would have a problem. “It was Greg, actually.”

That doesn’t help. “You got him on your side too? What the fuck is wrong with you, Alex?”

“Enough!” Alex snaps. “They switched the bombs. He was holding a fucking Manes atomizer, Flint. It was either him or him AND you AND Greg AND me. The decision had to be made.”

“So you _warn_ him, Alex! He’s your father!” Flint yells. 

Silence falls as Alex’s face crumpling confirms what Flint realized as soon as he said it. Alex _had_ warned him. He’d tried to save him. Alex’s fatal flaw, always thinking that everyone could be saved. He’d tried, and Jesse hadn’t listened. Jesse never listened. And Alex always tried to pick up the pieces. 

Greg and Flint are older. They're the ones who are supposed to be picking up the pieces. Well, Greg did. And there is no doubt in Flint's mind that if he hadn't, if it had been the other way around, Jesse would have stayed away because Alex was just another loose end, not out of respect or because he felt particularly sorry about it. That much had been made abundantly clear even before either of their involvement in Project Shepherd. 

Flint’s anger can’t protect him from this. 

Alex starts walking towards him but stops when he’s still a foot or two away from the bed. “You told me once that you didn’t have a choice about being like him, but now he’s gone. There’s no more chain of command in this family. You are going to stop hunting Max and Michael and Isobel, but the rest is completely up to you. Are we clear?”

“Are we done?” Flint replies. 

Alex sighs. “Listen, I know that this is a lot for you. Dad did a lot of damage, and it’s probably going to be awhile before that heals completely. Kyle says you’ll be here for another two or three days, and then… you can stay at my place for awhile while we figure things out, or… you can go, if that’s what you want. I just need you to know you’re not alone in this.” They let that hang in the air for a couple of minutes. “Hey, you look tired,” Alex says finally, “I can go and let you get some rest.” He must assume Flint isn’t going to answer, because he turns to go without waiting for a response. 

“Alex, wait.”

Alex turns back around. 

“Dad didn’t… cause all that damage by himself,” Flint says, after too long, “Some of that stuff… I helped, too.”

Alex nods. “I know.”

“If you’re so convinced I’m wrong and the aliens are harmless, why are you here?” In a turn of events that shocks no one more than Flint himself, there’s no venom behind the question. 

Alex picks his words carefully. “Dad tried to take everything from me. I’m not letting him take my family, not from beyond the grave. The atomizers are gone, and I really doubt you two built anything else that can't be unbuilt.” Flint definitely doesn’t have anything to say to that. “I’m glad you’re alright, Flint,” Alex tells him on his way out the door. 

It’ll be months before he’s even able to think about admitting it out loud, but some part of Flint is too.

**Author's Note:**

> lmk if you like this, there's almost definitely one more installment of flint being in the hospital for plot reasons and then maybe more after that if inspiration strikes


End file.
